It must have been tough, writing and directing a full-length feature that swivels on an event that only takes half an hour.Henry Fonda, his wife Joanne Woodward, and their young son are stranded for a few hours in a Western town where a high-stakes poker game is going on. Fonda, a poker addict, is drawn into the game and loses the $4K his family had been saving for their new farm. He winds up holding what he considers a winning hand -- we don't know what it is -- and when he's informed that he must put up an additional several hundred, which he doesn't have, he drops on the floor, still holding his cards.Woodward is forced to take his place but asks that the nature of the game be explained to her. She listens attentively while another player, Kevin McCarthy, explains to her, "We are all holding cards. Some cards are better than others. We all think we have the best hand. And we have all bet four thousand dollars that we have the best hand." Well, of course Woodward's stash has already been gambled away by Fonda, but she crosses the street to borrow money from the owner of the local bank, offering as collateral the hand of cards she is holding. The filthy rich bankers gawks and lends her enough to raise the pot and drive everyone else out of the game.That's not the end. Legal ethics prevent me from revealing more of the plot. I think I can go so far as to say, "Don't worry." The laying on of hands by the bank is the pivotal event. The notorious skinflint who owns the bank would never lend money unless he was certain of getting it back. However, the story must be made tensile to fill the time slot.So we get an opening scene of a boisterous saloon, clamorous cowboys, rollicking tunes, riotous laughter at remarks and wisecracks that aren't in themselves funny. Okay, the film needs some juice, but this is like transfusing blood into a patient whose life is hardly worth the expense of saving. There are anti-climactic scenes that drag on much too long after the point has been made, or are themselves entirely irrelevant.Nice cast, though. Fonda may be too old for the part of a naive guy setting out to make his fortune on a small farm but Woodward is just fine. I can't help wondering if Fonda and John Qualen swapped stories about working for John Ford in "The Grapes of Wrath." I imagine Fonda approaching Qualen with outstretched hand and saying, "Why, MULEY!" Charles Bickford as a player is stiff but has a magnificent exit. Jason Robards' part is unsympathetic but he has one of the more expressive faces on the screen. And he's a good actor with considerable range. Catch him in "All The President's Men," as the hard-nosed Ben Bradlee.It's much too long for the simple story it has to tell and it's so loud and forceful that it leaves your eardrums in a grievous state. Worth seeing but not seeking out.

How can a film fail with nine great actors and actresses! Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, Burgess Meredith, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Middleton, John Qualen; and there are other fine, if not great, performances by other actors and actresses in the movie as well.My personal favorite performances in this movie are rendered by Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Burgess Meredith, and Kevin McCarthy. I loved the scene when Robards returns home and offers his future son- in-law an hilarious choice. But there are little touches that are unforgettable: when Burgess Meredith blows a kiss to the sensuous curvaceous entertainer, played by Marilyn Powell, while singing seductively and enticingly, "My Little Poesy", to banjo music, no less. It doesn't get any better than this!"How many good women have you met in your life?" Only McCarthy dares to answer Circe's riddle: "one."

This is great! The first viewing is a roller-coaster ride of confident control suddenly lost, then understood, then whipped away again! It's certainly Joanne Woodward's finest hour with an excellent cast of also ran stars. At the end, it all makes wonderful sense and you just wish to see it again!Second viewing lets you see how everything works, and you marvel at the screenplay and acting. Then you want to see it again and just enjoy the whole film. The fourth viewing is confident entertainment which you want to share with your nearest and dearest. Repeat viewing maintains the entertainment level and I still want to see it again!One of the top films I have ever seen and I look forward to seeing it again. Thank you Hollywood!

After an extremely frustrating evening, I stumbled onto TCM's presentation of "A Big Hand for the Little Lady". WOW ! what a pleasure it was to see a wonderful movie I've been looking for, for a long time.This movie has everything a movie needs. I truly can't understand how some users thought it was too long, and was "slow". It does take time for all the characters - with such a stellar cast ! - to be developed, and the story to build, you know ! Does everything HAVE to happen all at once? AND, I don't think those guys who say the plot-twists were obvious......sure fooled me ! Fielder Cook (TV-director or not) got the best performances out of his cast, from the brilliant script by Sidney Carroll. Henry Fonda ("Meredith") and Joanne Woodward ("Mary") headed a cast to die for and played their roles with total conviction. Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, Burgess Meredith, Kevin MacCarthy, Robert Middleton and John Qualen, et al, were as good as a cast can be - everyone delivering solid characters.Shame on those users who wrote too much and gave-away the plot. This is a film to enjoy - get involved in - every minute. Nothing is wasted in this production. It should be in every collection, even ones for families. I'm looking for it, beginning right now. I rate it as 20.This movie is one of those which deserves to be given another release, with all the hoopla - Bravo!